Here’s to health, wealth and happiness…and becoming a better leader

I once wrote the above in a card to a friend who cancelled our day out together due to ‘work commitments’. We both laughed when I did because it wasn’t a quotation from the usual suspects like Oscar Wilde or Mark Twain but a line from a George Michael song. As time has gone by […]

The Waiting Place

As I’m writing this, I am myself in a Waiting Place. I’m waiting in the customer area of my local Mini dealer while the service team correct a minor problem with my car. It’s very comfy here, with wi-fi, fresh coffee, sofas and muzak. Thankfully I have my laptop with me and am able to […]

Confidence vs Courage

While I was thinking of a title for this post, I recalled an advert from my youth for a certain brand of toothpaste, which had a strapline about ‘a ring of confidence’. Actually, it’s quite relevant to this post. As a Coach, the issue most frequently presented to me by clients is their belief that […]

The Blame Game

Some years ago I heard a story of a middle aged woman who was out for a jog in a national park when she was attacked and killed by a mountain lion. Her shocked and distraught family immediately began legal proceedings against the government for compensation, stating its “failure to manage the mountain lion population” […]

Doing more with less…

Over the last year, the LeadWell team have been busy getting to know what issues and priorities are most commonly affecting senior leaders in schools, and shaping our services so that we can provide the best support. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we discovered a range of pressures and issues including how to lead well when time seems […]

PRESSURE!!! How best to cope

There are many jobs that are considered to be ‘high pressure’, and consequently, potentially stressful, but the BBC recently published an article in which it was suggested that teaching is the most stressful profession of all. How can it be that such a worthwhile job creates so much potential for ill health?

INsight: Are You A Worrier?

I am. A bit. Not a lot, but a bit. And certainly not as much as I used to be.

I think it’s natural to worry isn’t it – I mean, normal. Everyone does it.

But some people worry a lot.

They worry about whether they are good enough, successful enough, nice enough, fair enough, kind enough, tough enough, and just about every other ‘enough’ it’s possible to imagine. They worry about failing, succeeding, leaving, joining, promoting, demoting, and having vacations. They worry about children, parents, brothers, sisters, and those more distant relations they should do more to stay in touch with. They worry about money, and health, and relationships, and blocked drains and buildings insurance. They worry about staff issues, budget constraints, health and safety, teaching standards and all sorts of other elements that will, at various times, play on your mind.

Put your own mask on first

I don’t know about you, but when I fly I tend to be a bot blasé about the regulation on-board ‘safety briefing’.

I recall getting aboard an Air Caribbean flight some years ago, and being really focused on the hostess as she pointed out which doors we were to leap from in case of emergency. After seeing the dilapidated condition of the aircraft as I’d walked from the bus to board, and noticing fluid dripping from the overhead space two seats in front of me, I felt I had good reason to pay attention.

But seated in a spacious Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with mood lighting and four feet of headspace, my mind drifted as the animated characters on my personal video screen demonstrated the various aspects of passenger safety in front of me.